Air conditioning unit



Dec. 23, 1941. w. ROWE ET AL AIR CONDITIONING UNIT I Filed Feb. '7, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l o o o o a O O O O0 ATTORNEY Dec. 23, 1941.

I Patented Dec 23, 1941 Crone, Wis, and Robert William Rowe, La

. Fitzgerald,

Chicago, Ill.

Application February 7, 1940, Serial No. 317,700 5 Claims- (Cl- 257-137) This invention relates to an apparatus for air conditioning a room. a

One of the objects of our invention is an apparatus to distribute heated or cooled air with such diflusion and directional characteristics so as to cause auniiorm temperature in the room without the presence of objectionable drafts or the sensation of abnormal heat or cold.

Another object of our invention is an adjustable feature whereby the apparatus may be adjusted to properly diifuse air according tothe diilerent heights of different rooms.

Another object of our invention is to heat or cool a room by the introduction of a vortex air current and inducing a maximum of room air from the sides into said vortex before the air current reaches the breathing level.

Another object of our invention is thevrelationship between the size of the initial vortex and the apparatus designed to induce room air irom the sides.

Another object of our invention is the new and a; the diameter or the opening :2 is the diameter of the fan ll, and the diameter of the opening 2| is one-third of the diameter of the fan ll.

The best efficiency and diffusion both as to respects quantity and direction is obtained by having the throat or. distance between the members l8 and I3. substantially equal to one-third of the diameter of the fan ll; an increase or decrease in the size of this throat will change both the novel means of cleaning the heater by reversing the flow of air therethrough.

The foregoing and manyother specific features of our invention are set forth in the following specification, where we described what we consider the preferred embodiments of our invention. These are illustrated in the accompanying drawings where- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional vertical elevation of the apparatus described in our invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic sketch of the air currents where no frustro cone is used.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic sketch showing the efiect of the air current by using the frustro cone.

Figure 1 relates to a unit heater, of which I l is the inlet, 12 a heating coil, i3 is the outlet; air is drawn through by fan It, operated by the motor l5; it is the upper casing; I1 is the lower casing; 18 is an outwardly flaring frustro cone; I9 is an outwardly flaring frustro cone; 20 is the point of attachment where the cone i3 is attached to the lower casing ll; 2| is the upper opening in I8; 22 is the upper opening'in the frustro cone i9; 23 is a rod adapted to support l8 and to regulate the distance between 18 and direction of the flow and the amount of diffusion, and with rooms of difierent heights it is very desirable to obtain different directional and diffusional characteristics. v a

Figure 2 shows in diagrammatic form the air currents wherein no frustro cone is used. The lines 21 represent the direction of the flow of air from the fan l4, and the length of the lines represent the velocity distribution. The other arrows represent generally the direction of the flow,

and the curved arrows represent induced air from the sides by the flow of the main stream.

Figure 3 shows diagrammatically the efiect on the air current of using the frustro cone. As in Figure 2, the arrows 21 represent the direction and velocity of the flow ofair, and the arrows 28 represent the induced air stream.

IS; the lower end of the rod 23 is affixed to the It has been found that the member 26 is of importance in causing an induced air current from the center or vortex. Without the member 28 the air stream would tend to assume its original directional flow with a substantially reduced proportion of induced air currents from the center. In order to obtain diilusion without draft, it is necessary to induce as much air as is possible- This is of extreme importance in introducing warm air into the room wherein the temperature of the heated air is 125 degrees F. and the temperature of the air within the room is substantially '10 degrees F.

The greater amount of 70 degrees F. air that can be mixed with the heated air before the air stream reaches occupied portion, the less liability there will be to drafts, and the more uniform the room temperature. This is also true when the apparatus is used to cool or introduce cold air into the room.

30 and 3| represent feed lines from source of power. Interposed in the line 30 is the conventional motor control switch 32, from which the line 34 goes to a conventional double-pole reversing switch 33, from which lines 35 and 36 run from the supply side of the reversing switch to one of the two windings of the motor, while lines 31 and 38 run from theload side of the reversing the lip switch to the remaining winding of the motor.

The heating coil I2 is of fin type construction with annular tubes 39 and fins 40, and the continual passage of air through this coil in one direction may cause a collection of lint, dust or dirt. It has been found that by reversing the flow of air through the unit this lint, dust or dirt will be dislodged from the fins or tubes. Accordingly, the apparatus shown in combination with the double-pole reversing switch, acts to reverse the direction of the fan so as to ;cause the air to flow out of the inlet II and thereby clean the coil and increase its efiiciency.

.We claim:

1. In an air conditioning device, the combination of a heat exchanger, a casing with inlet and outlet, a fan to draw air from said inlet through said heatexchang'er to said outlet, an air mixing and diffusing 'device in co-operation with said outlet comprising'tan outwardly flaring annular member attached tothe outlet of said casing and a second outwardly flaring annular member spaced by a distance substantially equal to onethird of the diameter of the fan from the first mentioned member to form an air passage therebetween, the second member being hollow, open at top and bottom, the top opening being substantially one-third of the diameter of the fan, whereby air is induced through said second member and out of the top opening, mixed with the outlet air and discharged through said passageway.

2. In an air conditioning device, the combination of a heat exchanger, a casing with inlet and outlet, a fan to draw air from said inlet through said heat exchanger to said outlet, an air mixing and diifusing device in co-operation with said outlet comprising an outwardly flaring annular member attached to the outlet of said casing and a second outwardly flaring annular member spaced from the first mentioned member to form an air passage means to adjustably regulate said spacing there-between, the second member being hollow, open at top and bottom, the top opening being substantially one-third of the diameter of the fan, whereby air is induced through said second member and out of the top opening, mixed with the outlet air and discharged through said passage-way.

3. In an air conditioning device, the combination of a heat exchanger, a casing with inlet and outlet, a fan to draw air from said inlet through said heat exchanger to said outlet, an air mixing and diffusing device in co-operation with said outlet comprising an outwardly flaring annular member attached to the outlet of said casing and a second outwardly flaring annular member spaced from the first mentioned member to form an air passage there-between, said member being attached to the first member by adJustable tie rods, the second member being hollow, open at top and bottom, the top opening being substantially one-third of the diameter of the fan, whereby air is induced through said second member and out of the top opening, mixed with the outlet air and discharged through said passageway.

4. In an air conditioning device, the combination of a heat exchanger, a casing with inlet and outlet, a fan to draw air from said inlet through said heat exchanger to said outlet, an air mixing and diffusing device in co-operation with said outlet comprising an outwardly flaring annular member open at the top and bottom, the top opening being coincident with said outlet and a second hollow outwardly flaring member open at the top and bottom, spaced from the first mentioned member to form an air passage there between, the top opening of the second mentioned member having a diameter substantially equal to one-third of the diameter of the fan and spaced from and below the said outlet whereby air is induced through the said second member and out the top opening and mixed'with the outlet air and discharged through said passage-way.

5. In an air conditioning device, the combination of a heat exchanger, a casing with inlet and outlet, a fan to draw air from said inlet through said heat exchanger to said outlet, an air mixing and diffusing device in cooperation with said outlet comprising an outwardly flaring annular member attached to the outlet of said casing and a second outwardly flaring annular member spaced from the first mentioned member to form an air passage there-between, the second member being hollow, open at top and bottom, the top opening being substantially one-third of the diameter of the fan and with the outward edge flared laterally whereby air which is induced through said second member and out of the top opening and is mixed with the outlet air will be discharged from said passage-way in a lateral direction.

ROBERT FITZGERALD. WILLIAM ROWE. 

